


Dragon's Lair

by PsychoticEvolution



Series: In Another World [3]
Category: Star Trek: The Next Generation
Genre: Alternate Universe - Dungeons & Dragons, F/M, M/M, Multi, Qcard Big Bang, Qcard Big Bang 2020, not really an au but it does take place in that setting, they are aware they are not in their normal universe
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-28
Updated: 2020-10-28
Packaged: 2021-03-08 03:20:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 15,994
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26998834
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PsychoticEvolution/pseuds/PsychoticEvolution
Summary: Q and Picard mysteriously wake up in the world of Dungeons & Dragons. Picard as a half-elf and Q as a forgotten noble turned sorcerer. It seems all they can do is follow the story laid out for them to find out why they're there and who put them there. As they play along, not only do they uncover their character's mysterious upbringings but also some buried feelings about each other. Sort of a crack premise but I'm hoping to turn it into a genuinely fun and interesting story.
Relationships: Jean-Luc Picard/Q, William Riker/Deanna Troi
Series: In Another World [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/529873
Comments: 2
Kudos: 14
Collections: Qcard Big Bang





	Dragon's Lair

**Author's Note:**

> This is not a real alternate universe fic, they are aware they're not in the universe they're supposed to be in. I'm not sure if that still counts as an AU so I just wanted to clarify. No extensive knowledge (or even beginner knowledge for that matter) of DnD is needed to understand this fic! Things are explained along the way.
> 
> For 2020 Qcard BigBang. Artist pairing: https://airborneranger63.tumblr.com/post/632922806692249600/an-art-piece-for-psychoticevolutions-dragons

“Jean-Luc.”

_Ugh, my head._

“Jean-Luc, wake up.”

_Who’s voice is that?_

“You’re not concussed are you? I don’t think we’ll be getting any good medical attention here.”

“Q?” Picard’s eyes fluttered open. He was holding his head, gently massaging the pain. He looked up at Q who was standing over him, offering his hand to help him up. Picard hesitated but took it, shakily pulling himself up. Q observed him closely for a moment before turning away to observe their surroundings.

“You seem alright, that’s good,” Q spoke absentmindedly, he seemed to be looking for something as his eyes scanned the vast expanse of trees.

 _A forest_ , Picard noted. He took a moment to observe the surrounding area himself before his eyes landed on Q. He was wearing a pair of black pants tucked into a sturdy pair of leather boots along with a vibrant colored tunic, which Picard noted was a thick leather, over a flowing white shirt. He had a holster on his hip which carried a short sword with a red diamond pommel. He seemed impressive in his clothes if a bit scuffed up, almost like a noble from medieval earth. Picard himself was wearing something similar but with a thick wool coat instead of a tunic, he also realized there was a crossbow attached to his back and a bag of arrows on his belt.

“Where are we?” Picard finally asked.

Q sighed, briefly giving his attention to the smaller man, “I don’t know.”

“Q,” Picard’s voice fell into his usual stern tone, “If you have anything to do with this--”

“I don’t, Jean-Luc, I really don’t know what’s happening.”

Picard noted that Q seemed off. He was thinking deeply, his full attention was to his thoughts and any questions Picard asked were barely second to them. Q seemed rattled, confused. It worried him. 

“Is something wrong?” he asked after a moment.

“I don’t have my powers. I have some sort of power but they’re not Q,” he rubbed his fingertips together as if feeling for something, “I can’t get us out of here.”

“Could this be some sort of game? Created by the Continuum?”

“I certainly wouldn’t put it past them but I’m not sure why they would do that. I haven’t been on their bad side recently, at least as far as I know.”

Picard scoffed, “Well I certainly wouldn’t put it past you to unknowingly get on someone’s bad side.”

Q ignored his comment, instead pointing to an area just ahead of them, “There’s a path down there. We should follow it.”

As Q began to walk, Picard reached out and grabbed his arm, holding him back, “We don’t know where it leads. It could be dangerous.”

Q looked down at Picard’s hand, his expression blank. Suddenly he felt overly aware of the texture of Q’s shirt and quickly let go.

“Do you have a better idea?” Q asked, finally looking up at Picard’s face.

He thought a moment and realized Q was probably right, it would be useless to just sit and wait for something to happen. “No,” Picard shook his head. Q began walking towards the path again, Picard following closely behind. 

“It’s autumn,” Q noted out loud, the air was cool and there was a distinct crunch that followed their footsteps along the orange-leaf covered path. He had his hand ready on the hilt of his sword, Picard took his lead and grabbed his crossbow from his back, putting an arrow in it. They heard a rustle from a nearby bush and immediately stopped, their heads whipping in the direction of the noise. A small rabbit hopped out, sniffing around for berries. They both let out a sigh of relief, Q looked briefly at Picard then turned away then quickly looked back. He stared curiously at the side of Picard’s head.

“What are you staring at?” he asked after a moment, uncomfortable under Q’s scrutinizing gaze.

“Your ears,” he replied simply.

“My ears?” Picard ran a finger along his ear and noted a slight pointiness to the tip. Q reached out and ran a finger along the smaller man’s ear as well. His touch was soft and his eyes gleamed a genuine curiosity as he gently poked the tip. 

It was making Picard blush slightly. Q frequently broke into Picard's personal space but something about Q's harmless expression made this a far more intimate experience. There was no malicious intent behind the touch, he was not purposely trying to get a rise out of him, he was simply curious.

Picard cleared his throat, hoping that his face had not gone as red as it felt, “Let’s keep going.”

Q gave him a puzzled look but complied, continuing to walk down the path. Eventually they reached the entrance to a fairly empty small town. The buildings were made of cobblestone and the few people they passed seemed to be clumsily walking towards a set of homes near an orchard.

“They’re drunk,” Q said as a man collapsed on the floor in a fit of giddy laughter, “That means there’s a tavern nearby.”

“There must be someone there that can provide us with information.”

After walking past a few more buildings they finally made their way to the tavern. Upon entering they were greeted by a small crowd of people drunkenly laughing and singing. Picard smiled slightly at a joke he heard from the small group sitting at the table next to him before he noticed Q scowling.

“What’s wrong?” he asked, curious as to the cause of Q’s sour mood.

“Getting drunk. It’s such a disgustingly _human_ thing to do.”

Picard smiled a little wider, “You can’t possibly tell me that in your centuries of being alive, you’ve never gotten drunk before.”

“I have. I don’t see the enjoyment of it.”

Picard simply shrugged in response then made his way to the bar counter. Q joined him, sitting on the stool and resting his elbows on the counter. They were approached by the barmaid shortly after.

“Guinan?” Picard asked, gobsmacked at seeing a familiar face here.

“Yes,” she smiled, “I’m sorry, I don’t think we’ve met before.”

Picard and Q shared a look. Q was the first to speak, “No, we haven’t. We’re...travelers. We’ve heard a little bit about the town from some friends. We were told that you knew of a place we could stay while we’re here.”

“Oh yes, I run the lodge upstairs. Are you looking for a room?”

“Yes, we are,” Picard responded.

“How much is it?” Q added.

“Three silver pieces for a single bed and five silver pieces for a double bed.”

“We don’t have any money, Q,” Picard sighed.

“A man dressed in such fine clothes and you don’t have any money?”

“Who?” Q asked. Guinan pointed to Q who looked down at the fine leather tunic he was wearing. He cleared his throat awkwardly, thinking of an excuse, “We...uh...got robbed. Where can we make some money?”

“You should talk to the mayor, he usually has some work to be done around the town.”

“Where is he?”

“You can check his home, it’s the house next to the well. His name is William Riker.”

“We’ll be back,” Picard gave the barmaid a tight-lip smile before quickly leaving the tavern, Q following behind.

"How did you know to ask her about a room?"

"It just felt like the right thing to say."

“Q, what the hell is happening?”

“If I knew I would have told you by now, I have no idea where we are or why we’re here. But we need money and we need a place to stay.”

Picard sighed, "We have no choice then. We'll simply have to play along until we figure out how to get out of here."

"There's the well," Q pointed, walking in that direction, "Let's see if Riker is home."

"I must say, Q, you're taking this rather more seriously than I expected."

"I don't like being without my powers. It worries me, especially when I don't know why. And there's just something off about all this. I feel odd, I feel something tingly on my fingertips and I don't know what it is."

"Tingly?"

Q stopped, he rubbed his fingertips together, observing them as if waiting for something to happen, "I'm not sure what it is but I feel something. Some sort of power. It feels odd. Dark."

"Dark?"

Q sighed, "Let's just talk to Riker. We can worry about this later."

“Q, if you’re--”

“Riker!” Q called, cutting him off. Picard turned to see Riker coming up a hill, he was struggling to hold a large basket of apples. Picard jogged to him and grabbed one side of the basket to lighten the weight, Riker smiled gratefully.

“It seems you know my name, but I don’t know either of yours. Are you visitors?”

“Yes, we are. I’m Jean-Luc Picard and this is Q,” Picard responded as they made their way to the front of Riker’s home. They set down the basket and Riker reached his hand out for the smaller man to shake. Picard gave him a firm shake, smiling politely. Riker then reached his hand out to Q who hesitated. A silent conversation took place between the two visitors. Q, who had nothing but animosity towards the real Riker, looked towards Picard in a way that asked “must I?” and Picard nodded in a way that replied “you must,” so forcing a polite smile, Q shook Riker’s hand.

Riker gave them a puzzled expression but shrugged it off, “It’s nice to meet you both. What can I do for you?”

“We need money,” Q replied bluntly.

Riker pursed his lips thoughtfully, “I have some apples that need picking. I’ll give you a silver piece for every barrel you bring in. How’s that sound?”

“Great!” Q smiled, “...I think.”

“There’s already some barrels by the orchard, you have until sunset otherwise you won’t be able to tell the good apples apart from the bad. I have some business in town to take care of, my wife may come by and offer some food.”

“Your wife?” Picard asked, his tone casual with a poorly hidden underlying curiosity.

“Deanna,” Riker smiled warmly, “Anyways, I should be off. I’ll see you two later.” He walked away, leaving Q and Picard to their task.

Q scoffed, “Apple picking. How demeaning.”

“It’s not so bad,” Picard shrugged, “I used to help pick the grapevines when I was a child. Just make sure you don’t grab any bad apples.”

“Right. One bad apple spoils the barrel or whatever.”

Picard and Q made their way to the orchard, they noticed about ten barrels piled around the entrance. _That means we can make ten silver pieces,_ Picard thought, _That should be enough for two single-bed rooms and food._ Picard quickly grabbed a basket and started filling it up, it seemed he had a good eye for it as his first barrel was filled within an hour. Q, on the other hand, was much slower. He frequently disrupted Picard’s focus by asking if a spot meant the apple was bad. After a few hours, Picard sighed deeply as he filled his third barrel.

“Q, it’s only spoiled if you see it has mold or the apple is noticeably brown. These small spots are perfectly normal for apples.”

“Well, how would I know? I don’t eat apples.”

Picard grabbed the brightest red apple he could find and rubbed it against his coat, cleaning it as best he could, “Here. Why don’t you try it?”

“Why would I do that?”

“Why not?”

Q crossed his arms, leaning against the tree, “You know, you said I seem far more serious than usual but you seem far more relaxed than usual. Especially considering I’m the person you’re stuck with, usually my presence always makes you tense.”

“I’m cautious but I’m also going to take this as it comes and as of right now I don’t sense any obvious danger. And that includes you. Although what you said earlier--”

“Could it also have something to do with your precious little crew being characters in this world?”

Picard shrugged, deciding not to bring up Q’s comment from earlier again, “A bit.”

Q looked at the smaller man curiously for a moment then motioned for Picard to toss him the apple, Picard complied and Q easily caught it. He gave it another wipe on his pants then took a tentative bite. He simply shrugged and tossed it back at Picard, “It’s okay. Dragon fruit is my favorite fruit.”

“Oh?” Picard began as he took a bite of the same apple Q had, “Why dragon fruit?”

Q didn’t respond and Picard looked up at him, he was staring intently at the smaller man. There was a strange expression on his face, a gleam in his eye that was familiar yet different in some way. _Well this is new,_ Picard wondered, _Did I say something to upset him?_

“Q?” Picard dropped the apple core on the ground, Q’s eyes followed it, “Q, are you alright?”

“Hm?” Q was still staring at the core on the ground, his expression had turned into deep thought. 

Picard approached him slowly and gently tapped him on the shoulder, “Q, are you alright?”

Q’s head snapped up to look at Picard, he shook his head, “Yeah, I just...got lost in thought.”

“You love dragon fruit that much?”

“They’re sweet, they’re good,” Q picked up the half-empty barrel he was working on, “I’m gonna go pick some more apples.”

Picard watched as Q made his way to the aisle over. _Strange,_ he thought, _Could it have anything to do with what Q said before?_ He went back to his task of apple-picking, _I have to make sure to discuss that with him at some point. If Q is feeling some sort of power he might be able to get us out of here._

The next few hours were relatively silent, Picard sometimes caught Q staring at him but Q would quickly turn away. And sometimes Q caught Picard staring at him, particularly with a confused expression while Q stared at an apple for far too long. Q would notice Picard's gaze and would quickly drop the apple into the barrel then turn away, continuing his task. Eventually they had filled up all ten barrels as the sun was almost setting. They rolled the barrels over to Riker’s home and knocked on the door.

“Well, looks like you filled all the barrels,” Riker smiled as he opened the door, “Let’s take a look.”

“Will!” a voice called causing Picard and Q to take a peek into the house, “Who is it?”

“Just a couple of travelers who needed some work.”

A curly-headed woman looked over Riker’s shoulder, “Travelers? Why don’t you invite them to eat with us? You poor things must be starving.”

“You must be Deanna?” Picard smiled, “I’m not very hungry but thank you.”

“And what about your friend?”

Picard looked over at Q who was observing Deanna closely, he noted he was rubbing his fingertips again. Picard cleared his throat, “Q doesn’t feel very well, I think we both need a long sleep.”

Deanna’s smile fell slightly as she looked at Q but she didn’t say anything to him, instead she smiled brightly again and playfully slapped Riker’s arm, “Will, how could you make him work when he feels ill? Let me get you some tea, it should help you both sleep.”

She went back inside and Riker made his way to the barrels, he opened each one and inspected the contents.

“I can give you seven silver pieces.”

“Oh,” Q frowned, “only seven?”

“Unfortunately a few of them had some bad apples in the barrel, I could already see the mold spreading in some of them. Seven should be enough for a room and breakfast, you can always come back tomorrow to pick more apples. There’s plenty of trees in the orchard.”

Picard rubbed a hand over his head and sighed, “Yes, maybe we will. We’d be happy to take the seven pieces.”

Riker nodded and pulled out a coin pouch from his pocket, he quickly counted the silver pieces and gave them to Picard. Deanna came out with a small flask and handed it to Q, they exchanged awkward smiles but no one mentioned it. Q mumbled a thank you and a goodnight before quickly walking away, Picard gave his own very polite thanks and goodnights and jogged to Q’s side.

“What was that all about?” he asked almost immediately. 

“I don’t know,” Q ran a hand through his hair, “I really don’t know.”

“Q, are you sure you're alright? With what just happened and these feelings you have, I’m worried something is going to happen to you and we won’t know how to fix it.”

“I think…” Q sighed, “I think I just need some sleep.”

“Do we have enough?” Picard counted the coins in his hand.

“We have enough for a double bed and a breakfast for two.”

Picard stopped, “A double-bed?”

Q crossed his arms, “Jean-Luc, we don’t have enough money for separate rooms.”

“You can sleep in the bed, maybe there’s a chair or something I can sleep in.”

“You can’t possibly be serious?”

“You aren’t feeling well, you deserve the bed more than I do.”

“Not that part! You seriously would prefer sleeping in a chair over sharing a bed?”

Picard sighed and continued walking, “You’re right, I apologize. It’s just...I haven’t shared a bed in a while.”

Q laughed, “Jean-Luc, I don’t think we’ll be doing what you did the last time you shared a bed.”

“Oh, don’t have such a dirty mind, Q, I just mean I’ve gotten used to sleeping alone.”

“I’m sure it won’t be so bad. Although I haven’t slept since the last time I had my powers.”

They turned into the tavern and Picard put five coins down on the counter, Guinan happily took them and gave Picard a key to their room. Picard smiled gratefully and Q followed him up the stairs to their room. Q immediately flopped down on the bed and let out a deep sigh, he closed his eyes momentarily and took a few meditative breaths. He held out the flask for Picard to take.

“Do you want to try the tea?” Q asked, sitting up.

Picard took the flask and opened it, a little bit of steam came out. He sniffed it, “It smells delicious, almost like chamomile.” He took a small sip, “Very good. It’s sweet.”

Q reached for the flask and Picard gave it to him, Q sniffed it as well before taking a sip. They handed the flask back and forth between them until the tea was all finished. Picard noted the same look in Q's eye that he had in the orchard when he ate the apple but more subdued, almost like Q was actively trying to hide it. Eventually, Q yawned loudly before sleepily undoing his tunic and pulling it off. He threw it on the floor next to the bed and began to slip off his boots and belt, letting his sword fall on the floor next to him.

“How come you’ll share a flask with me but not a bed?” 

“It’s all we have, I suppose,” Picard yawned, “I already said I didn’t mind sharing a bed anyways.” Picard threw his coat on the floor then took off his boots and belt as well, gently placing his crossbow and arrows on the nightstand next to him. Q snuggled up to the edge of the bed, trying to give Picard as much space as possible to sleep comfortably. It made Picard smile, he couldn’t help but enjoy Q’s thoughtfulness, particularly as rare as it was. “Q,” he yawned again, “it’s okay if we bump each other in the middle of the night. You don’t have to sleep so close to the edge, besides you’re bigger than I am.”

“I don’t want to bother you,” Q mumbled.

And Picard wasn’t sure if it was the odd situation or the tea or both but he reached out and tugged slightly on Q’s shirt, pulling him closer to the middle of the bed. Q grunted but complied, too tired to resist. He turned onto his back and after a moment his breathing became slow and even. Picard watched him for a moment. _He’s kind of cute when he’s sleeping,_ he thought. And while there was a part of his brain telling him this was Q, the being who had repeatedly thrown his ship into danger and was nothing but a nuisance to him, a larger part of his brain, the part fogged up by the tea, wanted to simply stare at Q and watch the typically flamboyantly loud omnipotent being sleep peacefully. _Mon dieu, I really need to sleep._ He sighed, and again he wasn’t sure if it was the tea but he put a gentle hand on Q’s. Q shifted and Picard frooze, hoping that he didn’t wake up and notice Picard had done that on purpose. Q did not wake but in his sleep he intertwined his fingers with Picard’s. Picard looked up at the ceiling and closed his eyes, falling into a peaceful sleep.

* * *

Picard could not have been more grateful that he woke up first. He did not want Q to find his face buried into the crook of the taller man’s neck with their fingers intertwined. _This has gotten far too out of hand,_ Picard mentally groaned as he slowly pulled away from Q. Q frowned in his sleep but thankfully did not wake up. Picard decided to slip on his boots and belt and make his way to the tavern to grab them both some breakfast. Guinan was there wiping down the bar counter.

“Ah Jean-Luc Picard, how was the bed?”

“Very comfortable, thank you.”

“I saw you brought a flask of Deanna’s nighttime tea. Very strong stuff. Puts you to bed almost immediately after a few sips. You must have slept well.”

“Yes, very well. Q is still sleeping upstairs. I hope that’s okay.”

“That’s alright, let him sleep. He seemed very tired last night, a bit disoriented.”

“He wasn’t feeling very well.”

“Well, what can I do for you?”

“I have two silver pieces, what can we get for breakfast?”

“Two cups of coffees and two donuts, and I’ll throw in a flask of water to take with you on your journey. How’s that sound?”

“Perfect,” Picard smiled, “Thank you very much.”

“Let me get a tray for you.”

Picard sat on the stool, he turned to look outside the window to observe the people outside. A couple was sitting on a bench in front of the building across the street. They were young, maybe newlyweds. He was tracing his fingers along her hand playfully, some sort of private action between them. She giggled and smiled and threw her arms around him, he kept his hand on her’s. No matter how odd an angle his arm was at, he always kept one hand intertwined with her’s. His mind wandered to his sleep with Q, their hands intertwining almost naturally. He remembered how he thought of Q last night, how he enjoyed watching him sleep. In the privacy of his thoughts, he allowed himself to indulge a little bit. Q did look cute, he looked peaceful. Picard had to admit, he wouldn’t mind sleeping with Q again. He smirked and then he reeled himself back to reality. _Don’t be ridiculous, Jean-Luc,_ he told himself, _This is Q. I would never compromise my morals as far as to have_ sex _with him. Watching him, admiring his figure. That’s one thing. But succumbing to lust with Q of all people, would be a complete disregard of everything he believes in._

_...Although how wrong could it be to just wonder?_

Picard shook his head, this was getting out of hand, he needed a distraction. Luckily, he saw Riker quickly coming towards the tavern. He smiled, looking forward to conversation with him, but when Riker was close enough for Picard to discern his expression, he noted he looked terribly distressed. He burst into the tavern in a frenzy.

“Jean-Luc Picard, thank god you are still here!”

“What’s wrong?”

“My wife! She...she’s been…” Riker was starting to breath harshly, almost on the verge of some sort of panic attack. Guinan immediately ran to him and rubbed a comforting hand on his back.

“Will, just breath, tell Mr. Picard what’s wrong.”

“Someone’s kidnapped my wife!”

“Deanna?!” Picard was up on his feet in an instant.

“Yes! They left a note, a ransom!” Riker pulled a note from his pocket and handed it to Picard. Picard quickly read through it, apparently a group called the Red Hoods had kidnapped Deanna for a ransom of…

“The Book of Life?”

“Yes, it’s a book Deanna found years before we met. It’s where she learned how to strengthen her sorcery skills.”

“Sorcery?”

“Yes, she has been using spells from the Book of Life to keep the soil in the orchard rich so the apples can grow all year. It’s the town’s main source of economy.”

“Deanna is a sorcerer?”

Riker and Guinan shared an odd look and Picard realized that sorcery must not have been seen as unrealistic in this world, his questioning of it must seem out-of-place. He quickly cleared his throat, trying to cover up his blunder, “I just mean I haven’t met many sorcerers in my journeys.”

“Odd coming from a fellow half-elf,” Guinan said, “My ancestors have always interacted with sorcerers.”

 _My ears,_ Picard remembered, “I left at a young age and mostly lived in forest areas, far away from life. This note says she was taken to the Caves of Nandor, where is that?”

“In the forest behind the orchard, would you be able to help her?”

“Me?”

“Yes, you and your friend. I noticed you both carried weapons, I just assumed you were some sort of fighters.”

“Oh, uh, yes. Yes, we’d be happy to help, let me go wake him up.”

“Thank you, Jean-Luc Picard! Please,” Riker pulled out a vial of blue liquid, “take this medicinal potion with you. Deanna made it herself, it should help if any of you get injured. You must save her, Deanna has always said she would risk her life to protect this book.”

“We’ll bring her home,” Picard gave Riker a comforting smile before running up the stairs. He knew this was a fictional world really, that nothing that happened here was going to impact his own universe. At least, that’s what he hoped. Although that didn’t stop the genuine worry from setting in. He burst into the room much louder than he intended, causing Q to grab the sword on the floor next to him and jump awake. 

“Jean-Luc, you scared the shit out of me!”

“Deanna has been kidnapped,” Picard put the crossbow on his back and tied the bag of arrows to his belt.

“What?” Q questioned, following Picard’s lead and quickly getting dressed, “By who?”

“A group called the Red Hoods. Apparently, Deanna has this sorcery book and they want it.”

“Sorcery?”

“Don’t ask, I don’t know,” Picard grabbed the keys to the room and rushed out the door, Q walking beside him.

“Maybe that’s what I felt yesterday.”

Picard stopped for a moment, “What do you mean?”

“I felt some sort of power in her, that must have been it. She’s a sorcerer.”

Picard shook his head and continued walking, “This is starting to get a bit ridiculous. There’s so much about this world we know nothing about.”

Picard tossed the keys onto the bar counter, Guinan had left a flask of water and their breakfast for them. Picard grabbed the water and donuts but left the coffee.

“Here, have some breakfast,” he handed a donut to Q and tied the flask to his belt, “We shouldn’t do this on an empty stomach.”

“Wait, what exactly are we doing?”

“We’re going to save Deanna.”

“She’s a sorcerer, how do you know she needs saving?”

“Riker just said she does, I guess, I didn’t really question it.”

“For all we know, she doesn’t even need our help.”

“Q, even if she doesn’t, there’s no harm in going up there and making sure.”

“I should be sleeping right now,” Q mumbled but he continued following Picard past the orchards and into the forest. There were a few signs scattered about barely visible paths in the forest, just enough for Picard to know which direction they should be walking in. After less than an hour of walking, they reached the entrance to the cave. He could hear a river running nearby and noticed that just inside the cave was a waterfall.

“We have a sword and a couple of arrows, are we even up to the task?”

Picard looked down at the crossbow in his hand, “We’ll make do.”

“If one of us dies here, what happens?”

Picard sighed, “We’re not going to die.”

“You don’t know that! You dragged me out to the middle of the forest to save your precious little counselor and you have no plan, you have no idea what we’re even up against! Who even are the Red Hoods?!”

They heard the crunch of leaves and Q immediately stopped speaking, realizing he was much louder than he should have been. He pulled out his sword as Picard quickly put an arrow into his crossbow. They looked around but there was no one there, at least no one in sight. Someone could easily be hiding behind a bush or tree.

“We should just go into the cave and get this over with,” Q whispered.

“If someone is watching us they could try to ambush us on our way in.”

“Let’s make a run for it and hope for the best.”

Picard sighed, he thought for a moment. If there was someone already watching them then just sitting and waiting to be attacked seemed counter-productive, if they were lucky whoever it was wasn’t a good shot and wouldn’t be able to hit a moving target. Picard looked closely at the cave, the water was just clear enough for him to tell that there was more cave behind the waterfall.

“We have to run through the water,” Picard finally said, “On three, we run as fast as we can.”

Q nodded and Picard held out his hand. He motioned one, two, and then three. And they both broke out into a sprint, Q’s long legs put him ahead of Picard but they kept up with each other easily. Picard felt the cool sting of the water pounding his body from above and realized he had made it through the waterfall, he looked around and realized Q was not with him.

“Q,” he called quietly.

No response.

“Q!” he called a little louder. 

Still no response.

Picard tried to look through the water but he couldn’t see any sign of Q, he was starting to get worried. Did he get hit, did they grab him when Picard wasn’t looking? Was he alone now? He turned towards the inside of the cave and realized he could see a lot better than he usually could in a cave with little to no light source, he noticed further down a few bright spots. _Torches maybe,_ he thought. Suddenly a hand grabbed his shoulder and he whipped around, holding up his crossbow defensively.

“Sorry! I didn’t mean to scare you,” Q smirked.

“That’s not funny! Where did you go?”

“It was a deer.”

“What?”

“That made that noise. I saw it out of the corner of my eye and decided to stop and see if someone tried to attack me. No one’s out there, it was just the deer.”

“That was a very stupid thing to do, Q, what if you were wrong? You could have gotten seriously injured, or worse, _killed._ ”

“Yeah but I wasn’t wrong,” Q shrugged, “I can’t see anything past a couple of feet from me.”

“Really? I see fairly well.”

Q grabbed on to Picard’s shirt, “Well, lead the way then.”

Picard walked towards the torches, careful to not take too many unexpected turns as to trip Q who was grasping on to his shirt behind him. Once they reached the torches, Q let go and pulled one off the wall, illuminating the space in front of them. They continued walking until they reached some sort of staircase, it blended into the rock formation around it but it was deliberately made to be a set of stairs. 

“Should we keep going?” Q asked.

“I don’t think we have a choice.”

“Well, we could choose to let her die.”

“Q,” Picard warned.

“Kidding.”

Q continued up the stairs, torch in one hand and sword in the other, while Picard trailed behind him. Taking a look over his shoulder every few seconds to make sure they weren’t being followed. 

At the top of the stairs, the path was far more illuminated, with torches along the walls every few feet. They continued down the path until they reached a large double-door made up of rotting wood. Q and Picard shared a look before Q simply shrugged and knocked on the door. A small window slid open and a pair of eyes peeked through.

"You are not Will Riker."

"No, he sent us," Q responded.

"Where is the book?"

"Where is Deanna?" Picard questioned.

“Come back when you have a book.”

“We are not leaving until we see Deanna is safe,” the little window slammed shut and Picard sighed, “We should have brought the book with us.”

Picard heard a tapping and turned to see Q trailing his knuckle along the door, “This wood isn’t very sturdy.”

“Q, what are you--”

And in a swift movement, Q took a few steps back and rammed his body into the door, easily breaking the rusted lock and even cracking some of the wood. He tumbled to the floor with an ungraceful thud. They were both immediately surrounded by a group of people in red coats and masks.

Picard was the first to attack, shooting an arrow at the one in the middle. He fell to the ground with a grunt, his sword falling to his side. The rest whipped out their swords and ran towards Picard. Picard backed away, dodging one person’s attack. And suddenly Q was in front of him, two swords in hand, and blocking two swords who had attempted to come down on Picard. 

“Start shooting people!” Q yelled. Picard put another arrow in his crossbow and shot at someone who had attempted to strike Q from the side. He put in yet another arrow and shot someone who had come running in to help the other two take down Q. Q was doing well sword fighting against the two who had tried to attack Picard, astonishingly well actually, Picard noted. With the two swords, his mind seemed to be racing with how to defend against each individual strike. After knocking one down with a hard kick, he ducked an attack from the other and sliced their abdomen then ran over to the other before they could get up and plunged the sword into their chest.

“Where did you learn to sword fight like that?” Picard couldn’t help but ask, now that they had a second to breathe.

Q shrugged, “Instinct.”

“Incredible,” Picard breathed.

“Deanna!” Q called.

“Deanna!” Picard parroted.

“Here!” a faint voice responded, “I’m over here!”

Picard and Q quickly ran towards that voice into some type of chamber. They found Deanna tied to a chair in the middle of the chamber, Picard untied her while Q looked around.

“My amulet,” Deanna said, “One of them took it. Did you find it?”

“I’ll go check,” Q said as he walked out of the room, as he passed by Picard, the smaller man grabbed his hand.

“Q, your arm. Your bleeding.”

“I’ll be fine,” Q pulled his hand out of Picard’s grasp and continued out the chamber.

“Did Will give you any medicinal potion?” Deanna shrugged out of the ropes.

“Yes, just one vial.”

“Your friend should take it when he gets back. It should be just enough to help his arm, it’s not as potent as my other ones.”

There was some sort of commotion and voices coming from outside the chamber, Deanna and Picard moved towards the entrance of the chamber but stopped when they saw Q block the entrance, his sword held out defensively.

“Jean-Luc!” Q yelled, Picard peeked over his shoulder and saw about thirty of these Red Hoods quickly surrounding the entrance of the chamber, trapping them. “What do we do?” Q asked, his arm outstretched to keep both Deanna and Picard behind him.

“Did you find my amulet?”

“What? What does that--”

“Did you find my amulet?!”

“No!”

“Q, you might be able to get us out of this.”

“What do you mean?”

“Say nomenque armis.”

“What the hell--”

“Run towards them and yell nomenque armis!”

“Q, do it!”

Q did as he was told. When he felt he was a safe distance away from Picard and Deanna, he yelled out as loud as he could, “Nomenque Armis!” And then almost a dozen tendrils erupted from Q’s chest, battering all the Red Hoods surrounding him. The tendrils lashed and pummeled in rapid motion, none of them had any time to even think of running away as they had already been thrown against the wall. And if the sheer force of the tendrils did not kill them, their heads bashing against the rocks and ground certainly did. It was a gruesome sight to say the least.

Q’s eyes had turned a bright purple before rolling back into his head, his skin had gone terrible pale and he seemed to barely be able to hold himself up. Picard’s emotions took over and he couldn’t stop himself from running towards Q, calling out to him.

“Jean-Luc, no!” Deanna tried to grab Picard’s hand but just barely missed. The moment Picard was in reach of the tendrils, he was almost immediately struck and he hit the ground hard. Deanna could see blood dripping out of his mouth and cried out.

After a few more seconds, Q’s eyes went back to their natural state and he collapsed on the floor. Deanna immediately ran to Picard and rummaged through his pockets, searching for the vial. Once she found it, she poured the contents into his mouth. He sucked in a deep breath and then began coughing up more blood, he groaned, clutching his stomach.

“Jean-Luc!” Q cried, scrambling to sit by the smaller man’s side, “Jean-Luc, are you okay?”

“My head, my stomach,” Picard groaned, “Please...Help, please.”

“I don’t-- I can’t-- What do I do?” Q looked towards Deanna, his eyes pleading for any guidance.

“We have to take him to Beverly, she’ll be able to help him. Hurry, pick him up.”

Q put his arms under Picard’s knees and neck, picking him up easily. Picard reached a hand towards Q, clutching his shirt. He rested his head on Q’s shoulder and Q noticed that he was trying to hold back tears. They began walking to the cave’s entrance.

“Jean-Luc, I’m so sorry,” he whispered, “I’m so sorry.”

“He’ll be okay, Q.”

“What the hell was that?!”

“Q, do you not know what you are?”

“What are you talking about?”

“You’re a sorcerer.”

“I’m a what?!”

“A sorcerer. A psionic sorcerer. It means an alien influence has wrapped its tendrils around you, warping you in both body and mind. Perhaps a psychic splinter lodged in your psyche or maybe you were born somewhere tainted by the Far Realm. Or perhaps mind flayers kidnapped you, subjecting you to ceremorphosis but the transformation failed and left you altered somehow.”

There was a moment of silence and then Q looked at Deanna with an incredulous expression, “What the fuck are you talking about?!”

“You should see my friends Geordi and Data, they’ll be able to help you and teach you more about your sorcery.”

“Your amulet,” Q flicked his head in the direction of one of the fallen Red Hoods, “Is that it over there?”

“Yes!” Deanna smiled as she went to grab it. They continued walking until they had made their way out of the chamber, down the stairs, and out the cave. It was still daylight, likely around the afternoon. Q followed Deanna to the medical center.

“Beverly!” Deanna called, “We need help!”

Beverly came out of her office and saw Picard in Q’s arms. “What happened?” she asked, her voice very clearly showing her concern. 

“We, uh, well I-- we just--” Q stammered.

“He was hit very hard in the stomach and fell on his head,” Deanna answered for him, “I gave him some medicinal potion. Not enough to help the internal bleeding.”

“Internal bleeding?!” Q looked between Deanna and Beverly.

“Put him on the bed, please,” was all Beverly said.

“Deanna!” came Riker’s voice, “Deanna!”

Deanna popped her out the door, “In here, Will!”

Will ran towards her, hugging her tightly, “I’m so happy to see you. Are you injured? Did they hurt you?”

“I’m fine, Will, but our visitors aren’t doing well.”

Riker looked over Deanna and saw Picard lying on the bed, “What happened? Is he going to be okay?”

“He’ll be fine,” Beverly lifted up Picard’s shirt and ran her hand gently over his chest and stomach, feeling for broken bones, “You also need some medical attention. Your arm is bleeding.”

“I’ll be fine. Just take care of Jean-Luc.”

“Deanna, could you put some herbal paste on his injury and wrap it up?” Beverly asked as she made her way to a table filled with herbs and vials of liquids, he grabbed an empty bottle and began mixing things in it.

Deanna nodded and gestured for Q to take his shirt off. As Q did, Deanna grabbed a small wooden stick. She opened a jar and scooped some of the green paste inside with the wooden stick. Once Q’s shirt was off, she rubbed the paste along the injury then grabbed some cotton bandages and wrapped his arm gently.

“Thank you,” Q mumbled. 

“You should all go eat and rest for a bit,” Beverly said as she continued mixing, “It may be a while until he’s rested enough to leave.”

“Can I stay?” Q asked.

“You should eat something, you’ve lost a lot of blood. You’ll start to feel light-headed soon.”

Q opened his mouth to protest but Deanna laid a comforting hand on his shoulder, urging him to leave with her. He simply nodded and followed Deanna and Riker to their home, they made him a late lunch with plenty of protein. He felt physically refreshed after, if a little weary, but mentally he was a mess. 

All he could think about was Jean-Luc. How this _thing_ in him, this power, had hurt him. This was his fault. _Psionic sorcerer,_ Q recalled, _What the fuck does that even mean?_ Whatever it was, it was powerful. And dangerous. He didn’t like it, he didn’t want to be a sorcerer. Not if it meant that he could hurt Jean-Luc. 

Deanna caught him in deep thought and offered him some fruit, he took it happily, craving something sweet. She then offered him a blanket and the couch to sleep while she and Will went for a walk. He refused at first but he also could barely keep his eyes open so Deanna led him to the couch and he almost immediately fell asleep.

* * *

Q woke up a few hours later when it was dark. 

“You’re awake,” Riker smiled, sitting at the chair across from Q and reading a book, “Deanna made you some dinner to take with you back to the tavern. Don’t worry about your room for tonight, it’s all settled. You just rest.”

“Where’s Jean-Luc?”

“Probably still with Beverly. He should just be waking up around this time too.”

Q scowled, “Why couldn’t I stay with him?”

“He needed to rest and so did you. I can have Deanna deliver the food to Guinan, why don’t you go see him?”

Q nodded and stretched as he stood up, he looked down at Riker who was smiling at him. It made him uncomfortable to have Riker be nice to him. He cleared his throat awkwardly, “Um...thanks. For everything. I appreciate it. So...yeah...thanks.”

Riker chuckled and went back to his reading, “No problem. Thank you for bringing my wife home safely.”

“No problem,” Q muttered before leaving. He took a deep breath, enjoying the feel of crisp cool air on his face. He then made his way back to the medical center. He heard giggling and stopped, he saw Picard and Beverly laughing and smiling. Picard looked much better and was sitting up on his bed. Shirtless. And Beverly laid her palm on his chest. And that made Q angry. Very angry. He felt it in his core, an almost pure feeling of jealousy. He quietly made his way to the door and just barely held it open, trying to listen to their conversation. They were almost whispering and it was difficult for Q to understand what they were saying. He huffed in frustration and threw the door open, much harder than he should have. Beverly jumped away from Picard.

“I hope I’m not intruding,” Q gritted out, his fists clenched.

“No, of course not,” Beverly smiled awkwardly, making her way to the door, “I’ll give you two a moment.”

Q moved to let her leave and opened his mouth to what seemed like he was about to yell but instead let out a frustrated sigh. His fists clenched and unclenched until he ran a hand across his face.

“How are you feeling?”

“How are _you_ feeling?”

“I’m not the one who had internal bleeding.”

“I’m feeling much better now thanks to Dr. Crusher.”

Q scowled, “Her bedside manner seemed very hands-on.”

“Q--”

“I don’t think doctors are supposed to touch you like that!”

“Q, why are you so upset? Did something happen?”

“No!” Q yelled. He took a moment to breathe, “No, sorry. Riker paid off a room for us, we can leave whenever you’re ready.”

“Let me just ask Beverly if I need anything for the night.”

“Just hurry up, I’ll be outside.”

Q made his way outside where Beverly was sitting on a bench across the street. She noticed Q leaving the building and quickly made her way back to talk to Picard.

“Do you have a place to stay for the night?” she asked Q as she walked by him.

“Yes,” Q responded through gritted teeth. Beverly nodded and went inside, Q could hear some more giggles and whispering. He turned to look inside the window and saw Beverly run her hand across Jean-Luc’s chest. Something in Q flared. His fists clenched and he felt a wave of deep anger. 

_What is wrong with you?_ Q yelled at himself, _You’re usually so much better at controlling your emotions. What is going on?_

Picard finally stood up and put his shirt back on, chatting with Beverly as he did. He noticed Beverly eyeing him closely, his body.

 _My powers,_ Q thought, _this is so much harder without my powers._

He noticed Picard smirk at Beverly and turned away.

_I just have to keep myself from doing something stupid._

The door opened a moment later.

“Thank you for all your help, doctor.”

“Of course,” she responded, “and perhaps I’ll see you again. Hopefully not injured.”

Picard smiled, “Hopefully.”

And something in the look they shared set Q off, the second the door closed behind Picard and Beverly was out of sight, Q pushed him up against the wall of the building, kissing him roughly. Picard grunted as his back hit the door and he clutched Q’s shirt to keep his balance. He was shocked to say the least. Q’s hands roamed over his body, trailing along his hips and stomach and chest. The feeling of those gruff hands on him pulled him into the moment until he closed his eyes. Q’s tongue flicked out, licking Picard’s lips. Picard parted his lips, allowing Q to explore his mouth with his tongue, he moved his other hand to grasp at Q’s hair. Q moaned into his mouth and Picard was snapped back to reality. He pushed Q away from him, much more aggressive than he wanted to. _Well, I really want to keep going,_ Picard thought, he shook that thought from his head.

“Q, what--”

“I have to go,” Q blurted before practically running away.

“Q! Q, wait!” Picard called but Q didn’t stop, didn’t even look back at him. Picard sighed, “Damn!” 

Picard decided to let Q have some time to himself and made his way back to the tavern, Guinan greeted him with a key and a plate of food. He accepted both gratefully, taking the plate with him to his room. He didn’t feel like being around people, especially rowdy, drunk people. Once he made his way to the room, he decided to leave the door unlocked in case Q came back and sat down on the bed. He took a tentative bite of the food. It was good.

 _That kiss was good._ Picard shook his head, _What was that? Where did that come from?_

_Well, I can’t say it was particularly unwanted, certainly not after what I was thinking the other night._

_I have to talk to him about this._

Picard sighed and finished up his food. He set the empty plate down on the nightstand and started to strip to his pants. He laid down with a groan, his body aching. He closed his eyes, taking a few deep breaths. Soon he had fallen into a deep sleep.

* * *

Q walked around the orchard, kicking the fallen apples as he walked up and down the aisles. That was exactly the kind of stupid thing he did not want to do. 

_Now everything is going to be awkward between us,_ Q groaned internally, _Now he’s gonna be all weird and stuffy._

Q picked a nice red apple from the tree and wiped it on his pants, he took a small bite, “I guess apples aren’t so bad.”

He thought back to their apple-picking from yesterday. He recalled Picard’s body stretching out to pick the apples a little too high for him to reach, how he would unknowingly stick his tongue out when he did and huff when he couldn’t reach them. It made Q smile. And he thought about those moments when Picard would stare at him for a little too long and Q caught him. He realized that Picard was probably too far away to notice he was staring at the spoiled and moldy apples, wondering how bad it would be if he just dropped a couple into a few barrels. And when he caught Picard staring at him and thought about his outstretched body, he decided that it wouldn’t be too bad.

_See that was smart, that was strategic. Kissing him because you’re a jealous idiot was stupid! Stupid, stupid Q!_

“Fuck!” Q punched the tree. He looked down at his bleeding knuckles and sighed, “That was also a stupid thing to do.” He held his hand gently and decided it was time to face reality. He couldn’t hide from Picard and he needed sleep, he had to go back to the tavern. 

Once he got there, Guinan saw his bleeding knuckles and gave him a handkerchief to wrap his hand in. She offered him his dinner and some water which he took gratefully, he decided to eat at the bar counter rather than take it to his room, not yet ready to speak to Picard. Once he finished, he people-watched for a bit. There were few people left at the bar but he enjoyed listening to their conversations. One pair was discussing some business while a couple joked with each other. After a while, Guinan noted the bags under his eyes and suggested he go to sleep. He sighed, still not ready, but complied. Mostly because it was getting difficult to keep his eyes open.

He made his way up the stairs and very carefully opened the door, hoping he wouldn’t wake Picard. It seemed Picard, although sleeping, was waiting to hear the door open and his eyes fluttered open.

“Q?” he asked.

“I didn’t mean to wake you.”

“Where have you been?”

“Just walking,” Q shrugged.

Picard sat up when he noticed Q’s wrapped knuckles, “What happened to your hand?”

“Nothing.”

“Q,” Picard warned, rushing to Q’s side, “We can’t afford to get injured again.”

Q stiffened and Picard realized that he was in Q’s personal space _shirtless_. Picard backed away, he grabbed a jar from the nightstand and scooped some paste onto his fingers.

“Beverly gave this to me in case either of us got injured again. I’m just going to put a little bit on your hand but we need to save this. We don’t know how long we’ll be here.”

“I can do that myself.”

Picard rolled his eyes, he gently grabbed Q’s hand and unwrapped it. He spread the paste across his knuckles and then simply left his fingers there, “Q, it’s okay. I’m not upset that you kissed me, just a little confused.”

Picard looked up at Q who was staring down at him tenderly. Picard’s eyes were earnest. He meant it, he wasn’t upset with Q. But Q had no idea how to explain to Jean-Luc why he did what he did. He couldn’t tell him he loved him. That was too much.

“Jean-Luc, I lo-- like you.”

_That was stupid._

“I mean I-- I have feelings for you.”

_You almost said it._

“I just-- I’ve had them for a while and I didn’t mean for you to find out this way. Or ever really. Because I know you don’t reciprocate. I know you see me as a pest at best and an abhorrent danger and you’re not wrong. I know I throw you into these ridiculous situations but I would never let you get hurt but I know they just annoy you. That I annoy you and you wouldn’t ever let yourself catch feelings for me even if you did have an inkling that you may reciprocate because that’s who you are. And I accept that, I’m okay with that. Just, without my powers and with whatever these feelings are, it was so difficult for me to keep my emotions in check that I did something stupid. And I--”

“I know you have feelings for me.”

“...what?”

“There had to be a reason why you were so interested in me. Data suggested that you viewed me as a pet but after the anomaly, I realized that I was not just a pet to you. Maybe I always had a suspicion but the way you helped me solve the anomaly confirmed it.”

“Oh,” was all Q could respond with.

Picard sighed, “You’re a good kisser.” Q blushed furiously and Picard chuckled, “I’m sorry I didn’t mean to catch you off guard like that.”

“No, I just-- I didn’t-- well I just figured you’d--”

“I need time to think about this. These past few days have made me realize that you aren’t as much of a pest as I thought you were, you’re actually quite helpful when you choose to be,” Picard ran a hand over his head, “We should go to bed now. I just want you to know that I’m not upset, I can’t guarantee anything will happen between us but I don’t want you to be uncomfortable around me.”

“Okay,” Q mumbled, “I can sleep on the floor.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. I enjoy sleeping with you,” Picard blushed furiously realizing what he said.

Q cleared his throat, “Let’s sleep now.”

Picard only nodded in response, finally letting go of Q’s hand. He decided to put his shirt back on, not wanting Q to feel uncomfortable. And Q slipped his boots and tunic off before carefully laying his belt and sword next to him on the floor, just as he did the night before. They laid there awkwardly for a moment, it seemed though that Q was far more exhausted than he felt awkward because soon Picard could hear him snoring. He reached out and gently grabbed Q’s hand, their fingers intertwining. When Q did not wake, he closed his eyes and fell asleep.

* * *

Picard awoke to the door opening and some very gentle footsteps. He felt the coolness of the sheets next to him and figured it was Q so he softly called out to him.

"I didn't mean to wake you," he responded.

"Where did you go?" Picard sat up, leaning on his elbows.

"To talk to Deanna."

"About?"

"Geordi and Data."

"What about them?"

"Oh you were unconscious when she told me, I forgot."

"Told you what?"

"I'm a sorcerer."

Picard couldn't help but laugh, "Seriously?"

"Yeah, some kind of fancy sorcerer. I forgot what it's called. That's what that thing was that I did in caves. She said I should visit Geordi and Data and they'll help me learn to use my sorcery."

Picard smirked, "I see."

"So I went to talk to her about where I could find them and she gave me this map. She said it follows along a stream and a variety of edible bushes so we wouldn't have to worry about food. It's two days trip on foot though," Q handed Picard the map who observed it idly.

"Do you think this is what we're supposed to do next?"

"I couldn't say but it seems like the most interesting thing to do next."

Picard sighed, "Alright well let's get some breakfast and I'll visit Beverly for a check-up and then we can go."

Q scowled, "You look fine."

"It's just a check-up, Q. It should be quick."

Q rolled his eyes. Picard noted that he did not have his tunic or belt on, and his shirt was open just slightly. He stretched his arms over his head and Picard’s eyes trailed up his neck and to his lips.

 _Mon Dieu,_ Picard blushed as Q put on the rest of his attire, _I can’t stop thinking about kissing him._

“I’m gonna get some breakfast,” Q interrupted Picard’s thoughts, “I’ll meet you by the entrance of the town when you’re ready. I’ll grab you a donut or something.”

“Sounds good,” Picard nodded and Q was gone, grabbing the map as he left. Picard got up with a groan.

 _Do I really want to let this thing with Q keep going? What would I even want from this? A friend or sex or maybe...a relationship?_ Picard shook his head, “No! I can not get into a relationship with Q.”

_But kissing._

“Oh, Jean-Luc! You’re a grown man, damn it!” Picard flopped back down on the bed, _Let’s just take this as it comes. There’s no rush to make a decision._

He sighed and got back up, taking a deep breath as did. He slipped on his attire and made his way downstairs, mentally preparing himself for the next two days being absolutely alone with Q.

* * *

Picard met Q about an hour later with a satchel full of herbal pastes and medicinal potions that Deanna and Beverly were very happy to provide them free of charge. Q handed Picard a donut which Picard ate happily as well as a flask of apple juice to share between them for the start of their trip. The flask could also be cleaned and filled with water later on.

Picard was worried that Q would be upset or try to discuss his feelings towards Picard, or worse make Picard discuss his feelings towards Q, but Q was surprisingly chipper. He enjoyed investigating the strange flora and fauna as well as trying to get the attention of the strange woodland creatures they passed by. And Picard realized that Q, who probably knew everything there was to know about their universe, was in a rare situation where he could be curious. 

And Picard also realized that watching Q poke at things and smile as he raked his hands through the pretty flowers was stirring something in him. Something that made him smile when he saw Q’s eyes light up and made him chuckle when Q tripped over himself to get away from an animal coming too close and made him stare at Q as if they weren’t surrounded by the strangest and most interesting environment Picard had ever been in.

 _Affection_ , was the first word that sprang to mind. _Yearning,_ was the second. _Perhaps just a little,_ Picard thought, _have I always felt this way or is seeing Q in this new environment also creating these new feelings for him? I suppose I’ve always been attracted to him if I really wanted to be honest with myself. I certainly would never have told him or my crew that but having someone push into my personal space and keep up the banter does seem to be on par with the people I’m attracted to. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t attracted to him the same way I’m attracted to Vash. But he’s a danger to my ship and I know that. But I suppose seeing him like this, gentle and curious, made me realize that he’s actually a bit of a softie._

_He’s also erratic and unpredictable._

_But maybe he might be open to change?_

_Not change per se, I don’t want Q to change but I’m sure there would be a way for us to communicate better. It might be difficult but I wouldn’t be opposed to it._

_Do I love him?_

_No._

_No, I’m sure I don’t love him...But I think I have feelings for him. Enough to entice me to get to know him better, maybe work towards love. Work towards a relationship._

“Jean-Luc, watch out!”

Picard was so wrapped up in his thoughts, he didn’t notice the large root sticking up from the ground which caused him to trip. Q was swift to catch the smaller man and Picard clung to his strong arms. It felt like a scene from a bad romantic comedy. Picard looked up to see Q smiling down at him, the sun was hitting just right to cause a twinkle in Q’s eye which made his irises look almost honey-colored.

_Oh, but I could definitely fall in love with this man._

Picard shook his head, “Thank you, Q.”

Q chuckled, “What are you thinking about that’s got you so distracted?”

Picard felt his skin heat-up, “Nothing, nothing. Just how odd the situation is. How beautiful the scenery is.”

Q helped Picard stand back up, “It really is beautiful. It reminds me of this little planet I know back in our universe. In the Cartwheel Galaxy. Gilea. There are no signs of any creature yet that could develop into sapient life like humans but there are a few small animals that roam around.”

“How fascinating,” Picard looked out at the forest expanse. The sun was beginning to set and it illuminated the river as they walked along it, “I never really comprehended you traveling to different planets in the blink of an eye, let alone different galaxies.”

“Ah well,” Q tossed a rock into the river, “It gets boring after a while.”

“We should set up camp soon, it’ll become too dark to keep walking in about an hour or so.”

“Okay, why don’t you start a fire and I’ll pick some berries?”

Picard nodded and they decided to set up camp a few feet away from the river. Picard found some sturdy logs to organize in a circle then put some gravel and twigs in the center. He made a small cone out of dryer twigs and began trying to use some obsidian rocks as flints. After many frustrating tries, he got the fire to start right as it got dark and right as Q came back with a flask full of water and a large handful of mixed berries.

“Deanna said the pink ones and the blue ones are good for eating,” Q said as he poured some into Jean-Luc’s hand. Q used his free hand to slip off his belt, placing his sword next to him as he sat down on the ground. Picard decided to sit next to him, his crossbow and arrows by his side. They sat there in comfortable silence for a moment before Picard decided to speak first.

“I enjoy holding your hand when we sleep next to each other.”

Q started choking on berries, Picard’s face turned a deep red as he patted Q on the back.

“How adorable,” Q coughed. He took a few sips of the water and then a deep breath, “You don’t have to find ways to make us seem possible Jean-Luc.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean it feels like you’re leading me on.”

“I’m just trying to be honest with you.”

“Then honestly tell me if you can see us being more than friends.”

Picard stared intently at the fire, “Yes.”

Q looked at the smaller man, surprised, “Are you serious?”

“Yes. I’ve been thinking about it a lot recently, it’s just...you know ethically I’m in a dilemma.”

“I know, Jean-Luc.”

“I’m sorry, Q.”

“Don’t be, you’re apologizing for being yourself. But I wouldn’t want you any other way.”

Picard smiled, “What a cliche.”

Q chuckled, “Well it’s what happens when you’re in lo-- like.”

Picard looked at Q knowingly and Q immediately turned to stare at the fire. Picard opened his mouth but he could tell Q wasn’t ready to say it so he closed it and settled with staring quietly at the fire as well.

“What do you think Geordi and Data are going to say to you?” Picard asked after a while, beginning to feel uncomfortable in the silence.

“Deanna just said they would help me learn how to use my power. I’m not entirely sure what that means though.”

“A sorcerer?” Picard pursed his lips, “How fitting.”

“I suppose.”

“This world is rather interesting, very intricate.”

Q nodded, “Everything is so beautiful.”

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen that expression on you before.”

“What expression?”

“Wonder.”

Q laughed, “Things get old fast, I suppose. This is new.”

“Indeed.”

They heard a rustling across the river and Q immediately held out his arm in front of Picard, his free hand grasping at the sword and holding it up defensively. A deer jumped out from behind a bush and they both let out a sigh of relief.

Picard looked down at Q’s protective arm, “How are you going to hit something across the river with your sword?”

“Shut up,” Q smiled, looking down at Picard. Q’s face was very close to Picard’s. Picard watched the light of the fire play on Q’s face, illuminating his eyes and the shadows of his features. He noted Q’s eyes drifting from his eyes to his lips. Picard moved to bring their faces closer together but stopped himself, not wanting to make Q uncomfortable.

“Can I kiss you?” Picard asked, Q simply nodded and that was all the answer Picard needed. Their lips met gently at first but quickly turned into something more passionate. Q dropped the sword and snaked his hand to hold the back of Picard’s neck, he squeezed slightly and Picard gasped into Q’s mouth, enjoying the roughness. Q sucked on his tongue and Picard could feel his heart pounding. Q turned to get a better angle, sliding between Picard’s legs. He pressed his knee against Picard causing him to moan and just like before Picard was brought to reality.

_I don’t want to regret this._

Q pulled away, giving Picard an odd expression, “What?”

“What?”

“I heard that.”

“Heard what?”

“I don’t want to regret this.”

“I thought that, I didn’t say it,” Picard pulled away to look at Q’s face, “Q, can you read minds?”

“I…” Q stared deeply at Picard, “...no. No, it was just that one time, I guess.”

“Q, I--”

“We should…” Q pulled entirely away and Picard missed the warmth of his body against him, “We should go to sleep.”

“I’m not tired.”

“Well do you mind if I sleep?”

“No, no, I’ll sit here for a bit.”

“Goodnight, Jean-Luc.”

“Goodnight, Q.”

Q laid down, using a lumpy log as a pillow. Picard watched him until his breathing became even. He slipped his coat off and put it on Q as a blanket then stood up. He decided to go for a short walk to clear his head before sleeping, not too far. 

He weaved around the trees, mainly walking in a circle around their campsite. He kicked the occasional rock and picked the flowers along his way, plucking the petals. He slumped against a tree and sighed.

_What am I getting myself into?_

_He’s right though, I can’t keep leading him on. I can’t keep saying these things and wanting to kiss him and be close to him while also refusing to be with him._

_He understands though._

_That doesn’t mean it doesn’t upset him._

Picard heard a rustle from behind him. He barely glanced over his shoulder, figuring it was probably another animal rustling around like before. But then a hand wrapped around his neck and covered his mouth.

“Well well well,” came a gruff voice, “a lone traveler. You really shouldn’t be walking around the woods at night all alone. It’s a dangerous place.”

Picard struggled against the person but felt a sharp pain in his side. He felt a knife being pressed against his skin, just enough to knick him. He muffled out a yell, trying to get Q’s attention.

“Ohh no no, my friend, it’s in your best interest if you stay quiet.”

Picard pulled on the stranger’s arm and got just enough leverage to press his chin down and throw his head back, the back of his head colliding with the stranger’s nose. In the stranger’s moment of disorientation, Picard sprinted but felt a force hit him from behind. The stranger had tackled him to the ground but Picard was not a meek fighter at all. Picard threw his elbow back and was able to drag himself away until he felt a strong tug on the back of his shirt. He was pulled back and a crushing hand grabbed the back of his neck and turned him around forcefully.

“You’re a tough one,” Picard looked at the stranger closely, he had a greying beard and a large scar across his eye. _What a stereotype,_ Picard scoffed ruefully in his head. He brought the knife to Picard’s lips, “Make a noise and I’ll slice your lips off. Now, the nobleman friend of yours, which one of you has his money?”

“You just told me to not make noise,” Picard scoffed bitterly.

“Don’t be smart with me. Which one of you has the mo--”

_Leave._

“What?”

_Leave._

“How are you doing that?”

“Doing what?” Picard spat.

_I said leave._

“Who said that?”

_Leave._

“What the hell is that?!” the man said, looking behind Picard with a terrified expression. 

Picard craned his neck to look, he caught a glimpse of a shadow. But it wasn’t that he couldn’t see well, whoever it was was a shadow. 

“Q?” Picard murmured.

A pair of purple eyes were locked on the man holding Picard. 

“Shut up!” the man yelled and Picard realized that the shadow-man was speaking to him somehow, in a way that Picard couldn’t hear. “Shut up!” he yelled again, far more pained. His hand tightened around Picard’s neck and he winced, the shadow-man flared and the man dropped Picard and covered his ears. “Get out of my head!” he yelled, scurrying away. The shadow-man's color came back and revealed Q, who immediately collapsed on the floor, breathing heavily.

“Q!” Picard called, running to Q’s side, "Are you okay?"

“Can we go back to sleep?” Q breathed. Picard simply nodded and helped Q walk back to the campsite. Q fell asleep very quickly and Picard decided to sleep next him, laying a hand on his chest.

* * *

The trip to Geordi and Data did not take much longer. They woke up around sunrise, ate more berries, then continued on in a friendly silence, sometimes making idle conversation.

Picard had always assumed Q was rash and childish especially when he became emotional but he was being surprisingly mature in this situation, he held himself well.

"I wonder, Q," he couldn't help himself, "why couldn't you have been this level-headed on the Enterprise?"

Q laughed, "I suppose I'm too exhausted to be flamboyant."

"We could have slept a bit longer."

He shrugged, "I just want to get this over with."

Picard didn't press further. They walked a few more miles and then noticed that the trees made a much more obvious path from the stream towards a pair of black gates covered in vines.

"I guess this is it."

They walked up the path and observed the gates. Picard pushed on them but they didn't budge.

"Do you see a lock?" he asked, pushing a little harder. Q shook his head and helped Picard push, as soon as he pressed his hand against the bars, they glowed a bright yellow and they opened on their own.

"Why are sorcerer's so dramatic?" Q huffed. "Shut up," Q warned before Picard could accuse him of anything. Picard simply smirked in response.

The gates revealed a dirt path that led up a hill to some sort of gothic castle. They followed the path to the castle. Q banged on the door loudly, wondering if Geordi and Data would even hear it with how large the castle was. But it seemed they did as the door opened a moment later to reveal a pair of familiar yellow-eyes.

"Data?" Picard smiled.

"Yes, who are you? How did you find this place?"

"I'm Jean-Luc Picard. Deanna told us that you could help my friend Q here." 

Q waved awkwardly behind Picard. Data observed him closely, he reached out his hand towards Q. Q put his hand out, Data grabbed him by the wrist and pulled him closer, causing Q to let out a surprised yelp. Dara trailed a symbol on Q's hand and then a glowing purple sigil appeared on Q's hand.

"Ah," Data cocked his head curiosity, "A psionic sorcerer. I have never met one before but I am familiar with the strange powers you hold. Please, come in."

He opened the door wide and moved to the side, allowing Q and Picard to enter. 

"Geordi is cooking right now, would you like dinner?"

"It's not berries, is it?" Q questioned.

"No," Data responded simply. 

Picard couldn't help but smile, "We'd very much like dinner, Mr. Data."

Data nodded and led them to a large dining room. The long wooden table in the middle of the room probably fit twenty-two people total, with ten chairs on each side and two at each head. It was far too large for only two people.

"Are you the only two people who live here?" Picard asked.

"Yes, Geordi and I are the last members of the Federation."

"The Federation?" Picard and Q asked at the same time, looking at each other.

"Yes, all the others have died or decided to simply leave. It is a lonely life up here but Geordi and I keep each other company."

"So you're precious Federation disbanded. How interesting," Q purred, smiling at Picard wickedly.

"Q," Picard warned.

"Please sit," Data gestured to the chairs, "I will help Geordi bring in the food."

Data disappeared into the kitchen and Picard turned to Q, “How much longer do you think we’ll be stuck here?”

“Could be stuck here for a lifetime for all I know,” Q shrugged. Picard simply sighed, seeing his friend’s faces was making him miss the Enterprise. He felt homesick. Q put a comforting hand on Picard’s shoulder, “We’ll find a way home, Jean-Luc, don’t look so glum.” Picard chuckled.

“Visitors!” game Geordi’s cheerful voice, he was holding a bowl of bread in one hand and using his other arm to carry a bowl of mashed potatoes and pasta. Data came in after holding a pitcher of juice and cups as well as a set of plates and utensils.

Picard smiled, helping Geordi set the table, “I am Jean-Luc and this is Q, it’s very nice to meet you.”

“Ah, the psionic sorcerer. And a very powerful one, I can almost smell it on you.”

“I think that’s cause I haven’t showered in a few days,” Q scowled. 

Geordi gave a hearty laugh, “Well you are both welcome to bathe after dinner.”

“That sounds wonderful,” Picard sat next to Q while Data and Geordi sat across from them. They sat in comfortable silence for a while as they ate.

“So,” Q said, scooping his second helpings of mashed potatoes, “What exactly are we going to do from here? I mean with my uh powers and stuff.”

“How long have you had these powers?” Data questioned.

“I’m not sure.”

“How many times have you used them?”

“On purpose, only twice.”

“Has anything happened recently? Some sort of strange event?”

Picard and Q looked at each other. “What kind of event do you mean?” Q pressed.

“Kidnapped by strange creatures or you traveled to a place of shadows?”

“Not that I know of.”

“Strange,” Data cocked his head, “Such a sudden onset of powers like these has never been documented before.”

“I think a Magicis Purgatio is needed,” Geordi nodded.

“What is that?”

“Data and I will take a look into your mind, try to pinpoint the source of this power. Your powers are not inherently negative but it’s important to know where they came from, certain ways of allocating psionic sorcery can cause some serious physical side effects that you should be aware of. You can prevent them if we have enough time.”

“Side effects?”

“Yes, it can be as simple as your eyes changing to a permanent purple color or as serious as turning into a shadow form.”

“So how does this work?”

“Data and I will concentrate our power on you through physical touch, typically our fingers cradle your temple.”

“Like a Vulcan mind meld,” Picard murmured.

“Curious,” Data chirped, “I have never heard of a Vulcan mind meld.”

“It’s just a thing we do where we’re from. To...connect with each other...emotionally.”

“Fascinating,” Data’s lip quirked into the slightest smile.

“I think I’m done eating,” Picard stood up from the table, “Can I take a bath?”

“Yes,” Geordi pointed, “just up the stairs, the bathrooms are the blue doors. You are both welcome to bathe whenever, there’s plenty of bathrooms. Just speak what you would like.”

“Speak what we like?” Q questioned, standing up as well.

Geordi smiled, “Yes, like say warm bubble bath if that’s what you want.”

Picard simply nodded in response and made his way up the stairs, Q following behind. They both went into the first room they saw with a blue door, there was a small pool in the middle of the room as well as candles and torches along the walls illuminating the room. At the end of the pool was a golden spout. Q looked around at the empty room curiously as Picard stood at the door and watched him.

“A lavender and sea salt steam bath,” Q smirked. The spout immediately shot out water, steaming up the room and the smell of lavender was soon prominent as petals mysteriously found their way to the water in the pool. The torches had turned into a bright pink color that reflected off the water.

Picard watched as the pool filled up, not noticing Q taking off his tunic and boots in the corner. He jumped when he felt a warm breath on his ear.

“Would you like to join me, Jean-Luc?” Q whispered. Picard felt his skin heat up and his face had gone a deep red when he looked up at Q’s sultry expression. Picard opened his mouth to respond but jumped away from Q when he heard a set of footsteps coming up the stairs. Data peeked into the room shortly after. Q simply smirked at him.

“I see you have figured it out easily. There is another room across the hall. I have found these rooms to be perfect for private moments and deep thinking.”

“Oh, I certainly think I need some private thinking time,” Q purred, eyeing Picard.

“I will leave you be then. Did you want me to show you to the other room, Jean-Luc Picard?”

Picard looked between Q and Data. “Sure,” he choked out. Data nodded and gestured for Picard to follow, Picard looked back at Q as he walked away and Q gave him a suave wink as he closed the door.

 _What the hell was that?_ Picard shook his head.

 _Just teasing, Jean-Luc,_ Picard stiffened at hearing Q’s voice in his head.

_I thought you were too tired to be a pest._

_It comes and goes._

Picard rolled his eyes and Q didn’t say anything else. 

_Maybe a private think wouldn’t be so bad,_ Picard pursed his lips. He gave Data a polite smile and quickly shut the door behind him.

* * *

About an hour later, Picard and Q came out of their bathrooms feeling refreshed and relaxed. Q smirked at Picard when he saw the smaller man come out of the bathroom massaging his shoulder, Picard gently smacked his stomach.

“I hit my shoulder against the faucet, Q, don’t be dirty.”

Q simply shrugged in response, still smirking at Picard. They made their way back downstairs where they were greeted by Geordi and Data. They were led back to the dining room, Geordi gestured for Q to take a seat while Picard leaned against the wall to observe. They went right into the Magicis Purgatio, each of them putting a hand on Q’s head. They took some deep breaths then suddenly Q sucked in a sharp breath and his eyes turned black. Geordi and Data saw flashes of Q’s memory. The birth of a universe, the creation of a people, a ship and her captain, waking up in a forest, a shared apple, a kiss and then another. Geordi and Data pulled away from Q quickly, staring down at him with confused expressions.

“You do not belong here,” Data said after a moment, “You have these powers because you do not belong.”

“You need to return home,” Geordi began, “Or these powers will take over your body and leave you a shadow.”

Picard sighed, “We don’t know how to get home.”

“You are aware you do not belong?” Data questioned.

“We figured we would just play along until something happened,” Q shrugged, “We don’t know how to get home.”

“Do you have a physical item you carry with you that you feel radiates power?”

Q shook his head, “I don’t know. I just woke up here with a sword and nothing-- the pommel.”

“The pommel?”

“On the sword,” Q pulled out his sword, “The red diamond on the end. I don’t feel any power from it I guess but maybe--”

Geordi grabbed the sword from Q and trailed his fingers along it, “This is missing something. Sorcerers will sometimes create bonds with physical items that allow them to contain part of their power, helps to keep their body from destroying itself.”

“Like Deanna’s amulet?” Picard chirped. Geordi nodded, handing the sword back.

“It is broken somehow, you need to find the broken piece.”

“But it looks fine! It’s not even chipped!” Q threw the sword on the table, frustrated. They all observed the sword, looking for what could be missing. Picard’s eyes lit up after a moment.

“The hilt!” Picard pointed to the cross-guard, “It’s missing a piece right there!”

Q ran his hand across the hilt, “You’re right, there's a little indented circle there for some sort of stone. I never even noticed it before. Could that be it?”

“I believe so.”

“Well, how do we find it?”

“You are bonded to it, you will have to create your own map.”

“How the hell do I do that?!”

Geordi pulled out a piece of parchment from his paper, “Sleep with this under your pillow. You have to dream of the missing piece.”

“How do I make myself dream of something?!”

“Well that’s the difficult part, there is no guarantee you will.”

Q sighed, rubbing his face, “This is ridiculous. This is all so ridiculous. I just want to go home.”

Picard put a comforting hand on Q’s shoulder, “We’ll get home eventually, Q.”

“You are welcome to sleep here for as long as it takes,” Data offered.

“Would you like some tea? It’ll put you to sleep quickly.”

Q simply nodded. Geordi ran off the kitchen and brought back a steaming cup of tea, Q took a sip. It was the same tea Deanna had given them their first night here. Data gestured for Q to follow him to a bedroom and Q did so, Picard watched as he sluggishly made his way up the stairs.

“Does he need to sleep alone?”

“Unfortunately, yes. Would you like some tea too?”

Picard nodded as well, gratefully taking the cup of tea. Geordi led him to a room across the hall from Q and Picard took his time drinking the tea. He listened to the strange calls of the animals outside and watched as the light from the torches played on the walls, eventually he had fallen asleep.

* * *

Picard awoke early the next morning and found Q slumped on the dining room table sound asleep. He had the parchment in one hand and the sword in the other. Picard approached him slowly, not wanting to wake up. He carefully grabbed the parchment from Q’s grasp and unrolled it.

“Q,” he called.

“Hm,” Q murmured, still sleeping.

“Q, wake up!” Picard rocked Q’s shoulder.

“What?” Q breathed, his eyes still closed.

“Q! You did it!”

“What?” Q lifted his head slightly, “Did what?”

“The map, Q! You made the map!”

Q yawned loudly, “Oh shit.”

Picard laid a gentle kiss on Q’s head, running his hands through his hair. Q looked up at Jean-Luc and smiled brightly, “Well hey that’s quite the reward. Do I get anything else?”

“Not in this castle,” Picard chuckled. Data and Geordi met them a moment later in the dining room and Picard showed them the map.

“This isn’t far at all, it’s up the hill across the river,” Geordi said, “It should only take a few hours to walk. You can leave right after breakfast.”

Geordi quickly prepared breakfast, eggs and toast with orange juice. They made idle chatter as they ate. Data asked them about their universe and Picard briefly discussed their doubles. They were both fascinated by this other world, so different from their own. The space-ship and pursuit of science contrasting heavily with their magic-filled old world. After Picard and Q finished breakfast, they went straight on their way, giving their deep thanks to Geordi and Data as they left.

“See you on the other side,” Geordi yelled, waving happily.

“We’re finally going home,” Q sighed, “Not that I haven’t had fun with you here, Jean-Luc, but I think I’m tired of being a sorcerer.”

“I miss the Enterprise,” Picard picked a flower and handed it to the taller man, “I’ve had fun with you too, Q.”

Q smiled warmly at Jean-Luc and they continued on in comfortable silence. It took only a few short hours to reach their destination. They were met with a similar set-up to Geordi and Data’s home, a large black gate covered in vines with a path behind that led to a castle on top of a hill. Q pushed on the gate and it opened easily. 

“What if we forget this when we get home?” Q asked as he walked up the hill.

Picard looked up at Q, “Then things go back to the way they were, I suppose.”

“I suppose.”

Picard gently intertwined his pinkie with Q’s, “I won’t forget.”

“How do you know?”

Picard shrugged, “Just being hopeful.”

Q scoffed as they got to the door of the castle. He pushed on it like he did the gate and again it opened easily. 

“There are so many rooms,” Picard looked around, “How do we know where it is?”

“I have a feeling I’ll know which room it is when I see it,” Q said as he made his way upstairs. He traced his fingers along the walls and door handles, feeling for the right room. He stopped when saw a wooden door with a gold frame at the end of the hall. "That one," he exclaimed, rushing towards it. He threw open the door frantically. In the middle of the room was a small glass jar and inside was a comm badge. Q quickly poured the badge from the jar and simply held it in his hand for a moment.

"This is it," he sighed, "Are you ready to go home?"

Picard looked up at Q before snaking his arm around his neck and pulling him into a tender kiss. "I'm ready," he whispered after they pulled away. Q smiled down at him before pulling out his sword and putting the badge in the hilt.

There was a bright flash from the red diamond, blinding both Picard and Q, and then suddenly everything was dark.

* * *

_Beep._

“Hm,” Picard groaned. He was laying in his bed on the Enterprise, a headache fading away as he woke up, “What the hell?”

_Beep._

“Computer, what time is it?”

“It is thirteen hundred hours.”

_Beep._

“Captain,” Riker banged on the door, “Worf, security override.”

“Come!” Picard called, wrapping himself in a robe, “I’m sorry, Number One.”

“Captain?” Riker looked around the captain’s quarters, “You were late to your shift and weren’t answering your comm. Are you alright?”

“Yes, yes, I’m fine.”

“Did something happen?”

Picard nodded, “I’m going to get dressed. I will meet the senior staff in the observation lounge in one hour.”

“Yes, captain.”

Riker left shortly after doing another quick inspection of the room. Picard sighed, rubbing a hand over his head.

_Was it a dream?_

_No, it couldn’t have been. It was so vivid, I mean I was there for days. It couldn’t have been a dream._

“Q,” he tried, not expecting anything to come from it, “Q!”

But Q did not come so Picard put it off for now. Maybe Q would show up later, or maybe he would never show up. Picard couldn’t know so all he could now was take a shower, get dressed, and tell his crew what had happened.

 _Well not everything,_ he blushed.

An hour later, he entered the ready room where his senior staff was patiently waiting for him. He couldn’t help his small smile, he felt at home again. Beverly rushed to him with a tricorder.

“Doctor,” Picard swatted her hand, “I feel fine.”

“Forgive me, captain, but--”

“I don’t think oversleeping every once in a while is cause for concern, doctor.”

Beverly rolled her eyes but sat down at the table. Picard sat at the edge of the table, interlocking his hands in front of him.

“I had a strange visit from Q.”

The table erupted with questions.

“So it wasn’t just oversleeping,” Beverly pulled out her tricorder again.

“What did he want?” Worf growled.

“Did he threaten the ship?” Riker questioned.

Picard held out his hand, silently commanding them to quiet down, “I’m not sure if it was a dream or not but I am fairly sure it wasn’t. We spent a good few days in another universe of some sort.”

“Another universe?” Geordi asked curiously.

“Yes, some sort of old Earth universe. I didn’t learn much about it while I was there.”

“Did Q put you there?”

“No, he didn’t have his powers. In fact, we had to go on quite an adventure for him to get them back and bring us home.”

“Did the Continuum put you there?”

“Q wasn’t sure. We never learned who put us there. The only reason I’m informing you all of this is that I have a feeling Q might visit me, to explain what happened maybe. But I’m…” 

_...hoping…_

“...I’m sure he’ll be back at some point. We had some unfinished business.”

“Unfinished business?”

“I would prefer to wait until after Q’s visit to disclose that, I’ll make sure to inform you if he comes and I’ll put a more thorough description of my experience in the logs. That’s all for right now. Dismissed.”

As soon as the crew left, a bright flash of light engulfed Picard and he was transported to his quarters. He turned around and saw Q on the couch, he was laying down with his head and feet resting on the arms. Picard was surprised to note that he wasn’t wearing a Starfleet uniform, he was actually wearing a simple outfit. A pair of slacks with sneakers and a sensible shirt.

“I’ve just come from the late 20th century,” he stretched his neck to look at Picard.

“Oh?” Picard sat in the armchair across from the couch.

“I fell asleep.”

“After we came back?”

“No, before,” Q sat up, “That’s all this was. A dream.”

“A dream?”

Q laughed, “It’s never good for a Q to leave his powers unattended, it’s why we rarely sleep alone. But I just dozed off while watching a play on TV.”

“What were you doing in the late 20th century?”

“Just observing.”

Picard decided not to press, instead he asked “What play?”

Q pulled out a small book from his back pocket, “She Kills Monsters, a play about an old game called Dungeons and Dragons.”

Picard grabbed the book and flipped through the pages, “How did I get sucked into this?”

Q blushed, “I fell asleep around the part where they kiss and I guess my mind wandered.”

Picard smirked, “So that was all just an elaborate dream? A bit anticlimactic.”

Q stood up, “Well that’s all I came to tell you, Jean-Luc. I should be going on my way, I don’t want to disturb you.”

“That’s a first.”

Q smiled, “I have things to do, other people to annoy.”

Picard feigned distress, “I thought I was the only one you annoyed.”

Q only chuckled in response, he held up his hand to snap but Picard put his hand on top Q’s to stop him.

“Q, I was wondering if you...um…” 

Q looked at him expectantly.

“If you wanted to maybe go out on a date?”

“A date?” Q smirked, “I’d love to, Jean-Luc. How about tomorrow night?”

“I should be free, given we don’t run into a strange anomaly.”

“I think you’ll be free,” Q gave Picard a mischievous grin, “So what did you have in mind?”

Picard intertwined his fingers with Q, pulling him down so that Q was leaning over him, “How about a lavender and sea salt steam bath?”

“That could be arranged,” Q leaned in to give Picard a kiss but Picard pulled back.

“Save it for tomorrow,” he purred, “I have to go to the bridge right now.”

Q stood up with a sultry smile on his face, he raised his hand to snap his fingers, “I wouldn’t want you any other way, Jean-Luc.”

And then with a snap of his finger and a bright flash, Q was gone, leaving Picard with an excited smile on his face and a giddy feeling in his stomach.

“And I wouldn’t want you any other way, Q.”

**Author's Note:**

> I apologize if this seems rushed but thank you for reading! I hope there weren't too many mistakes. Please comment and leave kudos!


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